Summer of transitions: AUGUST

“Make tea, not war” – peace flags made by my visiting nephew at Peace Camp.

First up was giving all my siding a light sanding to take off the light film of dirt and grease, chalk marks, and fuzzies (highly technical term).

One afternoon I made a run to Home Depot thirty miles up the Gorge to get stain for the siding. A forest fire had started nearby. This is what it looked like when I went into the store…

…and when I came out! I had to drive back down the Gorge (to the right side of the photo). At one point, this was ranked as the highest priority wildfire in the nation due to the threats to a populated area.

Sun behind smoke.

Coming out of the smoke and seeing the burned hills above some houses.

Stirrin’ up stain in sweltering heat.

Rolling it on. I experimented with several techniques and ended up doing a combination of rolling and then using a paint pad to take off the texture from the roller. Once again, I totally underestimated how long it would take to put two coats on every piece of siding.

My sister helped with edges one day when she was visiting.

I had plotted out where I wanted to park my house behind the barn and knew that I would be putting down a layer of plastic to prevent moisture from rising out of the ground under my house. I decided I might as well buy it now so that I could lay out my stained boards to dry.

These little ghoulies appeared when I unfolded the plastic!

Stained siding, one of many, many batches. We were also having the hottest summer on record, which made it tricky getting the stain on when it was over 90 degrees.

I realized that if I was moving it outside, I’d need a front door. I’m planning on making a custom door but knew I wouldn’t get to it before the end of the month. My neighbor Steffen and I went to the rebuild it center and bought a cheap (interior) door that looked like a kid had projectile vomited a concoction of fruit punch, green glitter and glue all over it. I had to cut it down to size and thought it was interesting that under the veneer it was just cardboard.

I refitted and glued the bottom part of the frame back in to the shortened door.

Waiting for the glue to dry.

And voila!

Then I learned how to hang a door by making a pad of the right width of shims…

and checking for plumb.

A door! It’s funny how even an ugly door makes the space feel more like home.

As I was installing the hardware, I managed somehow to lock myself out, not once but twice. The credit card trick really works!

Jumping ahead of the story, all of this turned out not to be necessary but it was a great learning experience and I also realized I definitely want a window in my door.

I had to return my great scaffolding awhile back and was worried how I was going to get the trim and siding up with my heights queasiness. Steffen came over and helped me build a platform from scrap lumber. I kept making him add more bracing until I felt solid up there, which is why it looks the way it does!

In amongst building, I attended the PAD tiny house mixer and did a little presentation at one of their workshops. Always great to mingle with the tiny house community. That is Laura Klement’s tiny house in the background.

Back on the build, I also had to stain more of my annoyingly warped trim boards and get them installed.

The trim involved cutting several angles to form the sill and to get it to seat tight against the wall (there was bead of glue from the manufacturer on the underside of the window that was getting in the way).

First trim board is not so sure about all this!

Making trim decisions…

Mocking up how the corner trim will integrate with the trim under the eaves.

Drilling the corner trim together, which was tricky since it was so warped. Steffen was a huge help guiding me through this.

Since you have to seal the ends of all your trim and siding boards, one neat trick is to get a jar or plastic container with a lid, cut a whole in it, and insert a brush. This way you have an easily accessible jar of stain that won’t dry out in between.

One of the hardest parts about installing the trim solo was holding things in place. Using a board to wedge pieces in place worked well in some cases.

Dee and Oly went to work making a template for the trim around the wheel wells…

…while I finished the trim on the tail end.

On my last day of 49, we got half a wall sided.

It even had Oly’s stamp of approval.

And on the day I turned 50, we got the entire side done (banner by my fantastically artistic friend, Sarah Wildfang!!).

After so long of staring at the ugly house wrap, I was completely choked up getting a glimpse of what my little house will look like. Best birthday present ever.

Saw this on Facebook and it pretty much describes my whole tiny house build!

Dee was a rockstar helping me get through that crazy time.

And Joan and Rita (taking the photo) showed up to help celebrate my half century. I could now finally kick back and relax. Looking back, I realize how important it is to maintain a pace that is mentally and physically healthy, and to take time out to enjoy the things that matter in life.

We had talked about at least moving the house right outside the barn just so I could spend the night in it, but wouldn’t you know after the long, dry heat wave, it was showering off and on that day, so we just threw open the doors and sat outside drinking Double Mountain growlers instead. 🙂

That night I did get to sleep in my house, and it was quite moving. Naj joined me. I was happy to find that I felt right at home in my little loft listening to the crickets and the rain showers, and at peace for the first time in a very long time.

This goes out to all my friends with heavy hearts right now.